George washington

Early Political Activity
After expelling France from North America, Britain decided to reserve most of
the Ohio Valley as a fur-producing area. By the Quebec Act (1774), Britain
detached from Virginia the land it claimed north of the Ohio River and added
it to the royal Province of Quebec. This act struck at Washington's plans
because it aimed to leave the Indians in possession of the north bank of the
Ohio, where they could menace any settlers on his lands across the river. In
April 1775 the governor of Virginia, John Murray, 4th earl of Dunmore,
canceled Washington's Kanawha claims on the pretext that his surveyor had not
been legally qualified to make surveys. At this time, also, Britain directed
Dunmore to stop granting land in the West. Thus Washington stood to lose the
fruits of his efforts during the French and Indian War.
As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1759 to 1774, Washington
opposed the Stamp Act, which imposed crushing taxes on the colonies for the
support of a large British army in America. Virginia, he said, was already
paying enough to Britain: its control of Virginia's trade enabled it to
acquire "our whole substance." When the Townshend Revenue Act (1767) levied
taxes on tea, paper, lead, glass, and painter's colors, Washington pledged
not to buy such articles ("paper only excepted"). By mid-1774 he believed
that British laws, such as the Boston Port Act and the Massachusetts
Government Act, showed that Britain intended to do away with self-government
in the colonies and to subject them to a tyrannical rule. In May he joined
other Virginia burgesses in proposing that a continental congress should be
held, and that a "provincial congress" be created to take the place of the
Virginia assembly, which Dunmore had disbanded.
Washington was chairman of a meeting at Alexandria in July that adopted the
Fairfax Resolves, and he was elected one of the delegates to the 1st
Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in September. There the
Fairfax Resolves provided the basis for the principal agreement signed by its
members--the Continental Association. This forbade the importing into the
colonies of all goods from Britain and all goods subject to British taxes.
Moreover, it authorized all towns and counties to set up committees empowered
to enforce its provisions. The Continental Congress thus enacted law and
created a new government dedicated to resisting British rule. Washington
spent the winter of 1774-1775 in Virginia, organizing independent military
companies which were to aid the local committees in enforcing the Continental
Association and, if need be, to fight against British troops.